Demountable shelf



00L E7, 1967 E. F. KHOURY 3,347,87

DEMOUNTABLE SHELF Filed April 18, 1966 INVENTOR United States Patent Office 3,347,187 Patented Oct. 17, 1957 3,347,187 DEMOUNTABLE SHELF Edward F. Khoury, Iron Mountain, Mich., assignor to Khoury Bros., Inc., Iron Mountain, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 543,169 3 Claims. (Cl. 10S- 152) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A demountable shelf construction having a pair of spaced vertical support columns which include downwardly and rearwardly sloping bayonet slots, a horizontal shelf support member, a vertical back and vertical ends on the support member, a clip having a pin extending therefrom secured to the ends for extending parallel to the horizontal support member and being engaged in 'said vbayonet slots for supporting the shelf member is disclosed.

which is easily demountable for interchanging com-` ponents of the furniture.

It is a further object of this invention to provide furniture having shelves and drawers which may be vertically adjusted.

It is popular and profitable nowadays forhomeowners and lobbyists in general to construct their lown custom furniture. One of the problems faced by such individuals who wish to do thework themselves is the lack of precision milling and cutting tools with which to form the desired shapes of wood for use in constructing custom furniture. It is an object of this invention to provide structures and means for permitting homeowners and such individual hobbyists to construct well made handsome furniture in their own homes without the need of expensive precision woodworking tools.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the drawings to which reference is made.

In the drawing:

FIGURE l is a vertical plan view of an exemplary arrangement of furniture using structure of this invention;

FIGURE 2' is a side View of the furniture shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detail view of the upright support member of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a detail of a cabinet clip for providing a pin at the end of a horizontal support for assemblying this invention; and

FIGURE 5 shows in partial cross-section the use of the furniture clip of FIGURE 4 in providing a pin which protmdes from the end of a horizontal support.

With reference now to FIGURE l, the horizontal supports of this invention are vertically supported by means of upright support members and 12. In the example of FIGURE l, the furniture includes an upper shelf 20, a center shelf unit 40 and a lower collapsible desk unit 60.

The upper shelf unit is vertically supported on upright members 10 and 12 by pins 22, 24, 26 and 28, which are received in bayonet slots 30, 32, 34 and 36.

The central drawer 40 is supported in a vertical position on upright supports 10 and 12 by pin 42 and pin 44 which are received by bayonet slots 46 and 48. The drawer 40 is limited in its pivotal movement about pins 42 and 44 by meaans of dowel members 5t) and 52.

The desk unit 60 is supported by means of pins 62 and 64 and its pivotal motion about pins 62 and 64 is limited by dowel members 66 and 68 which rest against the upright supports 10 and 12 when pins 62 and 64 are received by slots 70 and 72.

In addition, the plurality of horizontal supports, or shelves, may be placed in side-by-side relation by providing a plurality of upright supports in spaced apart face-to-face relationship. A portion of an additional v shelf 160 is shown in FIGURE l supported by a pin 102 and a dowel member 104 which limits the pivotal motion of shelf 10()l when pin 162 is received by a slot 106. It will thus be seen that if the upright member contains a plurality of slots on each of two opposite sides any desired number of side-by-side shelf arrangements may be provided.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, the upright support member may be nailed or screwed to a wall by means of frictional fasteners and 112, Of course, the upright members may be supported in any desired way: however, it is most convenient to secure them to a wall or other upright structure.

Shelf 20 is supported in a manner differently from drawer 40 and desk 60, as will be seen. Shelf 40 is supported at a point in the upper portion thereof on pin 24 which is received by slot 32, as shown in FIGURE l, and pivotal motion about pin 24 and pin 22, as shown in FIGURE 1, is prevented by pin 28 and pin 26, which are both shown in FIGURE l.

Drawer 40 is supported in a similar manner with respect to its upper portion being supported by a pin 44 and a pin 42, shown in FIGURE l; however, the pivotal motion of drawer 40 about pins 42 and 44 is limited by dowel members 50 and 52 as shown in FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2. Drawer 40 includes slidable drawer member 56 having handle members thereon 58 and 5S.

Desk unit 60 is supported in a manner described with regard to drawer 40. Desk 60 includes a cover 74 which carries on it a handle 76 and is pivotally hinged by hinge 78 and 78. In the first position as shown, the cover provides means for closing the shelf portion of the desk and in a second position may be extended to provide a writing surface. Ofl course, means may be provided to support the writing surface in the extended position; however, such means are not shown in the drawings for purposes of clarity.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, the upright support member 10 is shown in greater detail. Hole-s 114 and 116 may be provided for securing the upright member to a wall or other structure. The upright member includes a bayonet slot in the side surface if the upright member which intersects the front and extends inwardly and downwardly from the front surface. In use, the side surfaces of two such upright support members are placed in spaced apart face-to-face relationship where they selectively receive pins which protrude from the opposite ends of the horizontal support member, for example, pins 22 and 24. In one embodiment both slots 32 and 36 may receive a pin, as shown with respect to shelf 20 in FIG- URE l. In other embodiments only one slot is required to support the horizontal support member, for example, drawer 40 is supported by receiving pin 44 and pin 42, pin 44 being received in slot 4S. Of course, it is not necessary that every slot of the upright support member be used, for example, a slot 49 may remain unoccupied. A plurality of slots on the opposite side surface of the upright support member may also be provided. As shown in FIGURE 3, slots 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 are provided which may be used for supporting an additional series of horizontal support members in sideby-side relation with respect to the horizontal support members shown in FIGURE 1. Such an assembly is shown in part with respect to shelf 100 of FIGURE 1.

In the preferred embodiment pins 22, 24, 42, 44, etc., are attached to the ends of the horizontal supports by a clip shown in FIGURE 4. The clip consists of the pin 140 which extends from the surface of the plate 142 having a right angle portion thereto 144. Holes 146, 148 and 150 are provided for attaching the clip to the furniture, as shown in FIGURE 5, by means of screws 150 and 152.

In the preferred embodiment dowel members 50, 52, 66 and 68 are attached by drilling into the ends of the horizontal support members and securing the dowels within the holes in the usual manner.

It will be understood, however, ,that this means of aixing pins and dowel members and equivalent structures is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the invention. `For example, the pins are shown as being generally circular in cross-section but of course, pins of another shape, for example, square or triangular, would be satisfactory. Similarly, while a dowel is easily afxed to the end of a horizontal support and may preferably be used, an additional pin may be used in the manner shown in FIGURE 1 with respect to shelf 20 or a pin may be attached Ito the end of the horizontal support by screws or by other means which would function as the dowel member of the example in FIGURE 1. Therefore, reference to pin or to dowel member is intended in the generic sense and would include all members which are structurally similar and function in the manner of these disclosed members.

The bayonet slot of supporting member 10 is shown extending generally inwardly away yfrom the front surface of the supporting member for a predetermined distance and then generally downwardly in a direction nearly parallel the front surface for a predetermined distance. This is the preferred embodiment ofthis invention; however, it will be understood that the exact shape of the slot is not critical. The slot must, however, be of the bayonet type in the sense that it extends inwardly and downwardly to securely receive the pins which protrude from the ends of the horizontal support members.

Horizontal support members which may be used in this inventioninclude shelves, drawers, deskunits, and any other furniture structure which may desirably be supported vertically.

Particular advantages of this invention will appear on the drawings. For example, it will be seen that the furniture may be made up of components which are easily dissembled and easily assembled and which may be disassembled easily for transportation to the site of means securing the clips, respectively, to the end'and back ateach end of the shelf-like member;

a pin extending from each clip substantially perpendicularly outwardly from the ends;

a vertical columnar support disposed at each end of the shelf-like member and having a front surface and a side surface and further including a bayonet slot in the side surface which intersects and extends from the front surfacev generally inwardly and downwardly, said slots being adapted to receive pins extending, respectively, from the ends for supporting the shelf-like member.

2. The construction of claiml wherein the columnar support includes a plurality of slots therein, and further comprising:

at least one additional clip and pin on each end and back, said pins being disposed in vertical alignment for being received in vertically aligned slots to thereby support the shelf-like member by at least two pins on each end.

3. The construction of claim 1 further comprising:

first and second ydowel kmembers extending, respectively, from theends for resting engagement with the supports.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 360,547 4/1887 Winslow 108-110 2,103,408 12/1937 Eddy 312--195 X` I2,577,276 12/1951 Saul 108-110- 2,931,686 4/1960 Afdal 312-245 3,096,733 7/1963 Jentzen 108-108 X i 3,190,243 6/1965 Pira 211-134 X 3,200,962 8/1965 Davelaar 211-197 FOREIGN PATENTS 599,826 11/1959 Italy.

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SUPPORT CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF: A HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING SHELF-LIKE MEMBER; PLANAR ENDS PERPENDICULARLY SECURED TO THE SHELF-LIKE MEMBER; A VERTICAL BACK ON THE SHELF-LIKE MEMBER INTERCONNECTING THE ENDS; CLIPS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGULARLY DISPOSED PORTIONS; MEANS SECURING THE CLIPS, RESPECTIVELY, TO THE END AND BACK AT EACH END OF THE SHELF-LIKE MEMBER; A PIN EXTENDING FROM EACH CLIP SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULARLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE ENDS; A VERTICAL COLUMNAR SUPPORT DISPOSED AT EACH END OF THE SHELF-LIKE MEMBER AND HAVING A FRONT SURFACE AND A SIDE SURFACE AND FURTHER INCLUDING A BAYONET SLOT IN THE SIDE SURFACE WHICH INTERSECTS AND EXTENDS FROM THE FRONT SURFACE GENERALLY INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY, SAID SLOTS BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE PINS EXTENDING, RESPECTIVELY, FROM THE ENDS FOR SUPPORTING THE SHELF-LIKE MEMBER. 